This article describes the Single App Mode feature for iOS when using SimpleMDM. If you don’t already have a SimpleMDM account, you can start a free trial today.
What is Single App Mode?
Single App Mode (SAM), often referred to as “Single App Lock” is a feature for supervised devices that restricts the device to running only one app. While Single App Mode is enabled, the selected app will stay in the foreground.
This feature includes a number of additional options, such as the ability to:
Disable screen touch actions
Disable device rotation
Disable volume buttons
Disable ringer switch
Disable sleep/wake button
Disable auto lock
Enable voice over
Enable zoom
Enable inverted colors
Enable assistive touch
Enable speak selection
Enable mono audio
Allow voice over adjustments
Allow zoom adjustments
Allow inverted colors adjustments
Allow assistive touch adjustments
What is Autonomous Single App Mode?
iOS can be configured to allow some apps to enable and disable Single App Mode on their own, under certain scenarios. This functionality is referred to as Autonomous Single App Mode (ASAM). Since this functionality makes the app responsible for enabling and disabling Single App Mode, apps need to be designed specifically to support ASAM.
As a SimpleMDM administrator, you are able to specify a whitelist of apps that are allowed to place themselves in single app mode.
How do I configure Single App Mode & Autonomous Single App Mode?
Single App Mode is enabled by the MDM administrator in the SimpleMDM interface. To enable Single App Mode and/or Autonomous Single App Mode, complete the following steps:
Visit Configs > Profiles and create a Single App Lock profile.
Visit Devices > Groups and select a device group to view the group details screen.
From the “Configurations” tab, select the Single App Lock profile and click “Save”.
Once you complete these steps, your supervised devices will enter Single App Mode and/or grant specified apps with Autonomous Single App Mode permissions.
SimpleMDM is a mobile device management solution that helps IT teams securely update, monitor, and license Apple devices in a matter of minutes — all while staying on top of Apple updates automatically.
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